Bryan Ferry readies bigger, bolder show for L.A.

It's been more than a decade since Bryan Ferry toured America as a solo artist, and nearly as long since his reunion with Roxy Music last touched down in Southern California (in 2003, at Pacific Amphitheatre). But it's not like the singer has been idle.

In that span, Ferry has released a collection of Dylan covers (2007's aptly titled Dylanesque) and a set of standards, As Time Goes By (1999), with the half-new, half-remodeled Frantic (2002) falling in between. Neither of his assortments of other people's material surprised anyone who has followed his lengthy career: Ferry, 66, has been one of the most astute interpreters of both Dylan and the classic American songbook since his first Roxy-free album, These Foolish Things, in 1972.

So why return to the States now? “It's been too long,” he explains with a laugh.

There's also the matter of a new album, last year's well-received Olympia. It's his first release to include his own material since Frantic, and he adds that “I thought it was an important record.” The tour, he points out, “is a demonstration of the new work.”

Even talking on the phone after a flight from Chicago to the West Coast (he appears Saturday at the Greek Theatre), Ferry is everything you'd expect him to be: witty, urbane, self-deprecating, an effortless conversationalist willing to talk with ease about his career, other musicians and wine (he's an enthusiastic oenophile).

Olympia fits comfortably into Ferry's catalog in two ways: the songs touch on American soul while continuing to limn the sophistipop of world-weary romantics. Recorded over a few years, the disc finds him collaborating with all the members of Roxy Music (although not at the same time) as well as Nile Rodgers of Chic, Dave Stewart, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. Why did he choose to work with such a wide range of musicians? “Simple,” he says. “They make me sound better.”

There's also the cover – a stunning photograph of Kate Moss wearing only pearls and red lipstick, inspired by the Edouard Manet painting of the same name as the album. Ferry, a former art student who oversaw the look of this package, just as he did all of Roxy's output, is justifiably proud that his work will be exhibited at the Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles' Fairfax District from Oct. 20 until Nov. 5.

His current concerts include only a few songs from Olympia. It isn't that he thinks the new songs don't stand up. He just has so much material from his 40-year career from which to choose, and he wanted to create a “balanced” performance, so the setlist includes selections from Roxy Music as well as his earlier solo titles.

The ensemble he's assembled for this tour features musicians from his entire career: Roxy's Paul Thompson mans the drum kit (a “strong player, and very reliable,” one “who put his stamp” on that band's sound), while longtime associated Chris Spedding is on guitar. They're matched with what Ferry laughingly calls “the young people”: guitarist Ollie Thompson, who has worked with him for about a decade, and Colin Good, who has played piano with the singer for roughly five.

“They're all from kind of different backgrounds, but they're a great band,” he boasts. “That's why I'm taking them wherever there's an audience. They understand what I'm going for. If they didn't get it, they wouldn't last.”

What really seems to excite him is talking about the production's visual aspect (“it's a big show”). Ferry has always made a glamorous impression – though Roxy hated being lumped in with '70s glam-rock: “We thought there was much more to us than flash” – yet he acknowledges that “there's so much more you can do visually these days.” Touring on the whole has become more “civilized, with better facilities, better equipment and easier travel,” but it's the advances on stage that impress him most.

He's built his own studio in London, and along with his son Isaac he has directed videos for every song he performs live. With his team – again, mostly comprised of young people, who he says add energy and a new perspective – Ferry has returned with a program that, though booked into theaters, is “more of an arena show.” The concept is “something I've been developing for the past few years,” bolstered by those clips plus lots of dramatic lighting and a troupe of dancing girls – because “it's always good to have girls at the party.”

He wonders why so many of his contemporaries don't follow his example. Pop stars like Lady Gaga get it, delivering shows with some “pizzazz,” but he can't think of anyone in the rock scene who does. The possible exception, he says, is Prince: “He's always got something interesting going on, and he's terribly underrated.”

But this show, he says, is sure to dazzle. “It's a lot to watch,” he insists, so much so that he jokes “you have to see it two or three times.”

Saturday is his only stop in Southern California. Who knows how long we'll have to wait for the next tour?

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